Denkoroku – The Transmission of the Light

Case 34 – Hui – Neng ( Daikan Eno Daiosho)

The Case

The thirty-third ancestor… ’s sixth ancestor, was Master Hui – Neng.

He worked in the rice hulling shed at Huang – Mei Temple. Once, Hung – Jen entered the shed and asked. “Is the rice white yet?”

Hui – Neng answered, “Its white but it hasn’t been sifted.”

Hung – Jen struck the mortar three times with his staff.

Hui – Neng shook the sifting basket three times and entered his teacher’s room, where he received the robe, the bowl and the teaching.

If you’ve read or heard teachings from , you’ll remember a little about Hui – Neng. He lived a very long time ago, between 638 – 718. He was the illiterate son of a wood cutter. After his father had passed away, he took over his dads work in order to support his mother and himself. While selling wood in the market one day, he heard someone recite a verse from the Diamond Sutra…and it’s told that he was, in that moment, enlightened! Of course, he wanted to know immediately where this teaching had come from, and he was directed to the monastery at Huang – Mei and to the teacher there, Hung – Jen. On his travel there, he met a nun who constantly quoted Buddhist Scripture. Hui – Neng would listen and comment on the meaning of her words. He had a gift in understanding the true essence of the teachings. The nun was seriously impressed and asked him to help her with certain parts of these sutras which she didn’t understand. Hui – Neng told her he wasn’t able to help her as he couldn’t read the words. “If you can’t read the words, she said, how can you comprehend the meanings?” Hui – Neng replied, “The teachings of the Buddhadharma are not bound up in written words.”

Hui – Nengs understanding of Zen in that moment was just as we understand it today….”A teaching outside the scriptures not depending on words and letters. A direct pointing at reality. A mind to mind transmission from teacher to student!”

But what is transmitted?

I remember when Bill Clinton was first elected President and had his first unrestricted briefing with the CIA as the commander and chief. He laughingly admitted later that his greatest interest was not so much about the affairs of this country and the affairs of the world, but rather, “Who really killed JFK…and did aliens really land in Roswell, NM, and if so have we had further contact?

Can you blame him? Don’t we still want to know this stuff? I do

Whatever secret we are about to be let in on, we want it to be special, we want to have the edge that others don’t. We want it to be something very cool. I used to wonder, this DharmaTransmission thing…what’s it all about?

Some of you probably remember when the Beatles headed to Rishikesh India to study and meditate at the feet of the Mahareshi Mahesh Yogi. (He’s the real TM guy…not to be confused with David Lynch who’s kind of taken over that role!!!) Anyway, word has it that most of the participant, which also included…Donovan, Mia Farrow, Mike Love of the Beach Boys, of course Bungalow Bill…they were all happy to listen to the teachings, practice meditation and eat good tandori ! But not John Lennon. He was looking for something deeper. Enlightenment? The true meaning of life? Somewhere in the middle of the retreat he was invited by the Mahareshi to join him for a private ride on his helicopter. Lennon was blissed out thinking that he was the ‘chosen one’… that the little guru was about to reveal ALL to him! Well, the copter ride happened and Lennon was given a tour of the Ganges and surrounding countryside, without the Mahareshi ever saying a word. So WONDERFUL! JUST AS IT IS!!!

He got his wish. Something very special was Transmitted. He just didn’t know it!

People have asked me over the years what brought me to Zen Practice? I’m sure you’ve all been asked the same question. Well, for me, nothing earth shattering…it was a TV show from my elementary school days. A Buddhist Priest named Kwai Chang Caine…affectionally known to his teacher, Master Po, as “grasshopper” exiled from China and the (’s home base) and forced to relocate in Americas 1800’s “Wild West”… traveling on foot, town to town dropping bits of Buddhist and Taoist wisdom and using his kung fu training to protect the downtrodden and oppressed! And he was always meditating. I was intrigued! It was implied that Shaolin Priests acquired supernatural powers that they could walk through walls, see what could not be seen, become immortal! Some kids my age wanted to be Paul McCartney or Joe Namath. I wanted to be a Shaolin Priest! Who would have guessed! Be careful what you wish for!!!

Anyway, when Kwai Chang first entered the monastery as a child, his master held out a pebble in his hand. “Quick now, try to snatch the pebble from my hand.”… the young monk tries and fails. The master responds, “when you are able to snatch the pebble from my hand, it will then be time for you to leave.” In other words, when you have studied and practiced sincerely, when you have submitted yourself to your practice and your teacher, when you have made the teaching your own and have reached an understanding that equals that of your teacher, there will no longer be any reason for you to be here and train with me.

Hung-Jen said…“Is the rice white yet?”…have you shown by your lifetime of practice that you have gained insight and understanding of the dharma? Have you seen through and let go of the impurities, the attachments, the baggage? All the things that have been an obstacle to your path?

Hui-Neng replied…“Its white but it hasn’t been sifted.” I have found that place where I am comfortable with the way the teachings have been integrated into my life. I have trust in my own understanding and feel ready to pass that on. Do you recognize that in me?

Hung – Jen struck the mortar three times with his staff. “I do”

Hui – Neng shook the sifting basket three times, acknowledging this recognition.

Mahakashyapa smiles.

So what is actually transmitted?

EVERYTHING….and NOTHING!

First the EVERYTHING.

Last night when I left you all in the zendo, I received a great honor. After more than three decades of practice, I entered the ancestors room with my teacher Peter Joryu . With the help of Peter and Debra as witnesses, the Denbo Ceremony was performed and I received Shiho, . In this transmission, my name was added to formal documents making me 93rd in succession to the of , a lineage that dates back to the time of the Buddha himself. In a sense, I completed an important part of a journey that began way back in 1983 at Zen Mountain Monastery where I attended my first Intro to Zen practice weekend.

I didn’t gain any supernatural powers …or the ability to walk through walls. If you’re hoping for a winning lottery number, sorry, that’s a no go too! I don’t know who killed JFK and I can’t tell you for sure if we as a human race have encountered alien life forms….but if any of you invite me for a helicopter ride, I promise I will enjoy it for exactly what it is without expectations!

Many years ago when I was a much younger guy, I embraced this practice and these teachings. I followed a path, accepting Four very simple Noble truths which came with and eightfold path as a guide to this journey. I embraced an idea of living my life by vow. I committed to 16 precepts as tools to help me accomplish this, knowing from the very start that I would never be able to maintain them! Now I’m honored to be recognized by my teacher, as a fellow teacher. I have been given a new opportunity to see and experience all of these teachings more deeply, embrace them, and help share them formally with others. I have been empowered to be a caretaker of the Dharma.

Now the NOTHING…There is nothing to be transmitted and nothing to transmit! We already have it all!

Why then do we spend so much time doing this practice? Sitting ? Studying with a teacher? Reading? Questioning? Because the understanding of emptiness, interconnectedness, impermanence, cause and effect, non-duality…..our essential nature ….does not reliably transform us in ANY way until we truly realize it and see it for what it is.

We practice to see.

We need to see it for ourselves and experience it right here where we are!

Practice is enlightenment and enlightenment is practice. You can’t have one without the other. Nothing is separate; You’ve got it! We’ve all got it! Its right here! Right now! Stop chasing it and just see it as it is! Enlightenment, or better, what you want enlightenment to be or think enlightenment is? You’re going to be totally let down. Suzuki Roshi used to say, “There are no enlightened people, just enlightened acts.” I think he nailed it! This practice is only done by doing…and even when we commit to it…even when we we think we get it, or our teachers assure us that we’re on the right track, or that we have it, we know that there will still be days where we’re stuck.. or feeling depressed ..or dealing with anxiety. We’ll have problems that don’t seem to have answers. We still have to pay the bills, feed our children or take care of our ageing parents…..we have to deal with stuff everyday in this place we call our life. Anyone who tells you that Zen or any other practice will totally transform your life completely and make it just the way you want it to be is either lying to you or lying to themselves.

Still, we always have this practice!

Stef used to say that “If any teacher tells you that their way is the only way… run like hell and get out of there!” I promise you here this morning, I will never tell you that. In fact, I will never pretend to offer you anything

I will merely say that while I’m here, I will always be available to you and your practice if I can be of help….as all of you have been to me in so many ways.

I recently read some words by Zen teacher Barry Magid, who I believe is a dharma heir of . It touched me deeply and I want to share it with you.

“The practice of Zen is a beautiful, transformative, profound, imperfect, unreliable, corruptible, abusable… often culturally conditioned tradition, yet a way of life of which I am now a part and which I am now responsible for maintaining and passing on. There is no Zen apart from Zen teachers, Zen students and Zen practitioners doing what they do.”

Just a reminder that enlightenment and delusion are not separate, merely two sides of the same coin. To seek that middle path is to find that liberation. That’s what we do

I bow to those who helped me start, and kept me going on this path: If you’ll bear with me, I would like to acknowledge a few…

Daido Roshi, for my very first zen encounter Helen Yuho Kobai Roshi, my first formal teacher Stef Mui Daiosho, who transmitted my Jukai, ordained me as a priest and made a Shuso. Your teaching took me so far down this path. Issho Fujita Roshi, Teacher,friend and mentor who never failed to remind me that I was a priest…and should act like one!

….and the many other teachers and Zen friends whose zafu’s I have perched on and whose words, actions and generosity have helped me on my path…especially Chuck Hosan Joshin Hotchkiss at Old Pond Mind Zendo in Cape Cod & SFZC, Ven. Todd “Ocean of Wisdom” Jarvis, Abbott of The Middle Way Meditation Center in CT …and my very close friends and extended family, Vera & Joel Kaplan who have always been there for me in my life and my practice. Lastly here, my daughter Kailen and my son Dylan who grew up watching their father walk around in public with a shaved head and a “black dress”. They kept me grounded and free of the stink of Zen! Trust me!!! They’re the best!!!

Of course, this wouldn’t have happened without the practice and support of the teachers & Sangha here at Treetop. You welcomed me back into the fold with open arms after I’d given up my my seat at the table a long time ago, allowing me to pick back up where I left off from a time when this group had a different name, a different location and completely different people.

Peter Seishin Roshi, ToddHotai Sensei , Jaime Heiku Sensei, Sangha past and present…thank you.

I would also include my first three dharma sisters, Linda Abaya, Rose- Margaret Suilan & Pat Myoe’…including myself, we were Stefs first students…. One I know has passed, the others I have lost touch, but our time and practice together will always remain with me. I thank them.

Joryu Sensei……… Peter, thank you for always being there for me… for your time, your teaching, our hikes and sailing trips, dinners with you and Natalie …, your friendship. For making the dharma of your life such a great teaching. You have been willing to share with me in such a personal and intimate way…and now you give me the honor of being acknowledged as your successor and allowing me to carry out your Dharma in my own voice..

Like Kwai Chang, last night I grabbed the pebble out of your hand. That stone will always be precious!

Thank you all, and May Your Life Go Well!